Pumpkin-Filled Ravioli with…

…home-made tomato sauce, crispy sage, pancetta and chesnuts and topped with some parmesan and buffalo mozzarella. Oh and the pasta dough alone has a bit of beetroot in for some extra flavour and color. Talk about all the amazing autumn ingredients combined with a touch of summer. The ravioli alone are a whole another topic and the recipe for that will follow, but for now, I’ll share with you this amazing sauce/topping recipe – you can use any high-quality ravioli you like anyway, I imagine some ricotta filled ones would work really well, and any other pasta would be quite nice as well.

INGREDIENTS:

Base:

Pasta of choice

For the tomato sauce:

3 bull’s heart tomatoes, peeled

2 cloves of garlic

1 tsp sugar

salt, pepper

basil leaves

Toppings:

25 sage leaves

1/2 tbsp ghee or butter

50 g smoked pancetta

50 g cooked or baked chesnuts (I’ve used store bought ones)

Parmesan – obviously no limit here;)

Buffalo mozzarella

Olive oil

A touch of basil pesto

METHOD:

First prepare the tomato sauce (it can be made in bulk during the summer and be nicely stored in jars to use over the year). Put the peeled tomatoes and chopped garlic in the saucepan and cook over medium heat for about 20 minutes. Add a bit of sugar, salt, pepper, fresh basil and some balsamic vinegar if needed.

Cook pasta by manufacturer’s directions.

In a large pan melt the ghee/butter, add sage leaves, pancetta and chesnuts. Roast over medium heat until all is nice and crispy. Add the pasta in this pan and gently stir.

Assemble the coated pasta on the plates and cover with a spoon or two of the tomato sauce. Sprinkle with loaaaads of parmesan, a few slices of buffalo mozzarella and a bit of basil pesto if you have some. At last drizzle with some olive oil and that’s it.